WHO published the first COVID-19 Strategic Response and Preparedness Plan (SPRP) on 3 February, 2020. This report highlights the main points of progress that were made up to 30 June 2020 under the t
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hree objectives outlined in the SPRP: scaling up international coordination and support; scaling up country preparedness and response by pillar; and accelerating research and innovation. The report also discusses some of the key challenges faced so far, and provides an update on the resource requirements for the next phase of WHO’s response as part of an unprecedented whole-of-UN approach to the pandemic.
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Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by th
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e Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ministry of Health developed the health care waste policy and guidelines. This guidance document improved health care waste management in the country.
With support from the UNDP-GEF medical waste management project, the Ministry of He lth has revised the existing National Health Care Waste Management (HCWM), policy and guideline, 2006 and has produced two separate documents- A National Health Care Waste Management Policy and a National Guideline for Health Care Waste Management
countrywide. This policy is replacing the 2006 policy and introduces new technical and administrative policy issues to enhance waste management in health care facilities.
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Medical devices are used for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and diseases and
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for rehabilitation. WHO developed guidance on medical device donation in 2011, which has been now reviewed, with new evidence, new references on considerations for medical device solicitation and provision, risks associated with inappropriate donations, the responsibilities of donors and recipient, and the steps they should follow before, during and after a donation. It includes three sections: description of major problems that may be faced during the donation process, listing of best practices for donors and recipients and addressing situations requiring special attention. It also has three annexes for further reading: the criteria for the acceptability of a donation, literature review on donations of medical devices between 2010 and 2023 and a flyer. This document is intended to improve the quality of medical devices donations, including medical equipment, single-use medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics, to provide maximum benefit to all stakeholders. The considerations can be used to develop institutional or national policies and regulations for medical devices donations. This document is intended for use by any organization, expert or practitioner involved in the donation, procurement, management of medical devices, including health workers, biomedical engineers, health managers, policymakers, donors, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions.
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WHO Recommendations 2018 Update
The primary audience for these recommendations includes health professionals who are responsible for developing national and local
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health care guidelines and protocols (particularly those related to PPH prevention and treatment) and those involved in the provision of care to women and their newborns during labour and childbirth, including midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners and obstetricians, as well as managers of maternal and child health programmes, and relevant staff in ministries of health and training institutions, in all settings.
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Mental health problem is one of the growing major public health issues in the Asia Pacific region. It contributes to the high number
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of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), morbidity and mortality in the region. It is expected that leading mental health problems will occur in the low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and majority of the countries which comes under this category are in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, mental health problem hamper the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 1, MDG 4 and MDG 5. The most common mental health problems in the region are depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, suicidal behaviour and substance abuse disorder. Several modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors were identified for the cause of these major mental health issues. Interventions, programmes and policies need to be designed in order to curb mental health problems at all levels.
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This document outlines the evaluation process that WHO undertakes to assess novel tools and strategies targeted at VBDs. Its aim is to articulate the linkage between the generation of evidence that
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demonstrates public health impact of novel interventions, and the development of policy recommendations based on the generated data. The document defines standards for the evaluation process, as well as the steps that an applicant needs to undertake, along with some guiding principles that aim to support applicants in the development of submissions with WHO.
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Lymphatic filariasis: managing morbidity and preventing disability: an aide-mémoire for national programme managers, second edition: web annex A: protocol for evaluating minimum package of care
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of morbidity management and disability prevention for lymphoedema management in designated health facilities.
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These guidelines provide specific recommendations and expert suggestions — for national policy-makers and programme managers and their partners
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and stakeholders— on prioritizing, planning and providing HIV testing, counselling, treatment and care services for adolescents
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This 2011 update of Guidelines for the programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis is intended as a tool for use by public health profes
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sionals working in response
to the Sixty-second World Health Assembly’s resolution on prevention and control of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis.
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For several decades, civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have been advocating for increased resources for family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH)
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services and commodities. To help CSOs in Nigeria understand and actively participate in the budget process at the state level, a team from the Health Policy Project conducted an assessment to identify the differences between theory and practice in state-level budgeting. The team selected two states—Cross River and Zamfara—and compiled information on their budget process for the health sector.
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This guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for famil
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ies of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities.
This guide for facilitators provides information for leading the three home visits. It is a reference manual to be used in conjunction with specific training in caregiver skills training and under supervision. The guide includes detailed descriptions of the objectives and activities for each home visit. Goal setting information and forms are also included, along with information for trouble shooting and problem solving.
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The report reveals that good IPC programmes can reduce health care infections by 70 %. oday, out of every 100 patients in acute-care hospitals, seven patients in high-income countries
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and 15 patients in low- and middle-income countries will acquire at least one health care-associated infection (HAI) during their hospital stay. On average, 1 in every 10 affected patients will die from their HAI.
People in intensive care and newborns are particularly at risk. And the report reveals that approximately one in four hospital-treated sepsis cases and almost half of all cases of sepsis with organ dysfunction treated in adult intensive-care units are health care-associated.
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The pandemic has emphasized the high risk of avoidable harm to patients, health workers, and the general public,
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and has identified a range of safety gaps across all core components of health systems at all levels.
The rapid review ‘Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patient safety’ explores impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic did have on patient safety in terms of risks and avoidable harm, specifically in terms of diagnostic, treatment and care management related issues as well as highlights the main patterns of these implications within the broader health system context.
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This technical brief describes the re-affirmed WHO recommendation on ultrasound examination in the context of routine antenatal care and outlines policy a
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nd programme implications for translating this recommendation into action at the country level.
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The Regional Action Framework for Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control provides a unified vision of objectives and recommended actions to
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combat the noncommunicable disease (NCD) epidemic in the Western Pacific Region. Implementation should be supported by cross-sectoral coordination, sustainable financing, evidence-based policy, and community engagement, tailored to each Member State’s unique context. In doing so, Member States are encouraged to transform a disease treatment-centered “sick system” into a “health system” in which a population’s health and well-being enable socioeconomic development.
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This technical report has been developed within the framework of the WHO Global Initiative for
Childhood Cancer. Its goal is to improve the situation of children
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and adolescents with cancer worldwide,
giving them the best chances of survival, living a full life and, above all, enjoying quality of life and dying
without suffering
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Results from studies evaluating the effectiveness of focused psychosocial support interventions in children exposed to traumatic events in humanitarian settings in low-income and middle-income count
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ries have been inconsistent, showing varying results by setting and subgroup (eg, age or gender). We aimed to assess the effectiveness of these interventions, and to explore which children are likely to benefit most.
Lancet Glob Health 2018; 6: e390–400
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Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights | The present study focuses on inclusive education as a means to real
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ize the universal right to education, including for persons with disabilities. It analyses the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, highlights good practices and discusses challenges and strategies for the establishment of inclusive education systems.
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Available in English, French and Spanish
Caring for burns patients from the incident scene to definitive treatment can be a complex, resource-consuming process with the potential to overwhelm health system capacity.This document provides practical guidance for building capacity
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and capability for burns care from clinical, human resources and operational perspectives. It is therefore recommended that guidance in this document be applied to any contexts in which the local health system might struggle to cope and require surge support.
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